Quote: PORT FOURCHON, La. - The oil rig that exploded, caught fire and then sank 36 hours later could lead to a major oil spill, officials said Thursday, and as a result a remotely operated vehicle is surveying the seas and assets ranging from aircraft to containment booms are ready to be deployed.

At a press conference, the officials also said hope was running out for 11 workers still missing after the blast Tuesday night off the coast of Louisiana. The Coast Guard said its search would probably continue for another 12 hours or so.

Officials had previously said the environmental damage appeared minimal, but new challenges have arisen now that the platform has sunk.

Last edited by sparrow on Fri Jul 09, 2010 12:21 pm; edited 2 times in total

Quote: NEW ORLEANS — Government officials said late Wednesday night that oil might be leaking from a well in the Gulf of Mexico at a rate five times that suggested by initial estimates.

In a hastily called news conference, Rear Adm. Mary E. Landry of the Coast Guard said a scientist from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had concluded that oil is leaking at the rate of 5,000 barrels a day, not 1,000 as had been estimated. While emphasizing that the estimates are rough given that the leak is at 5,000 feet below the surface, Admiral Landry said the new estimate came from observations made in flights over the slick, studying the trajectory of the spill and other variables.

Thu Apr 29, 2010 10:23 am

mortalthoughtsLAME KID

Joined: 12 Dec 2002
Posts: 11616
Location: MI

this was declared a national emergency earlier

Thu Apr 29, 2010 4:08 pm

Stumbleweed

Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 9740
Location: Denver

There are few things in the world that make me feel more depressed and helpless to change the circumstances as a fucking giant oil spill. Just makes me sick to my stomach.

Thu Apr 29, 2010 4:11 pm

phataccino

Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 4778

BP didn't purchase disaster insurance for this, apparently in large part because the emergency shut off device in place was top of the line, had four fail-safes, and was thought to be pretty much unbreachable. Now they are going to be on the hook for the entire cost of clean up. Good by first quarter profits!

Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:45 pm

T-Wrexp00ny tang

Joined: 30 Jun 2002
Posts: 6410
Location: Detroit, Michigan

Too big to fail?

Or will BP get federal clean up bail out money?

Thu Apr 29, 2010 6:24 pm

leg.donor

Joined: 15 Dec 2003
Posts: 2756
Location: Portland, OR

i just read that it's expected to keep leaking at this pace till june.

1. why can they not seal the leak faster?

2. how much oil is down there? how does that even work, is it literally just flowing out of a hole in the ground?

Fri Apr 30, 2010 9:18 pm

futuristxen

Joined: 01 Jul 2002
Posts: 19377
Location: Tighten Your Bible Belt

So this will kill off the entire ecosystem of the gulf coast, no?

Hard to really wrap my head around that.

Sat May 01, 2010 2:07 am

Travadone

Joined: 05 Mar 2009
Posts: 2977
Location: LI(f)E SUCKS (The Album)

futuristxen wrote: So this will kill off the entire ecosystem of the gulf coast, no?